


Sweetness and a Touch of Spice

by Jaelijn



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Bathtubs, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, No Spoilers, Schmoop, Season/Series 02, Shore Leave, non-sexual nakedness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21935071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaelijn/pseuds/Jaelijn
Summary: Avon and Vila get to take a moment to appreciate a bit of luxury.
Relationships: Kerr Avon/Vila Restal
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Sweetness and a Touch of Spice

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure fluff. And I mean _pure fluff_ , not a shred of angst here. Nothing sexual either, in case you were wondering, not even so much as a kiss, just a little bit of boneless relaxation.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it, and Happy Holidays!

To Vila, it was pure luxury, a hedonistic indulgence that few realistically achievable things could compete with. That wasn’t exactly a surprise – water was strictly rationed in the delta sections. With the prevalence of sonic cleansers, using water for something as mundane as daily washing was unthinkable. What Vila didn’t know – and Avon did not care to enlighten him – was that, to Avon himself, it was nearly as much of an indulgence. True, water showers were more common among alpha circles on Earth, but _baths_ – deep enough and with enough water to fully immerse himself – had been unaffordable for all but the highest echelons of power, excluding even an alpha with a talent for obtaining others’ wealth for himself. This bath, big enough for two fully-grown adults, was more than Avon had ever dreamt of being able to use.

Vila moved about, stretching out his leg alongside Avon’s. Pleasantly warm water sloshed up his belly from the movement, from the additional displacement. The scent rose, sweetness and a touch of spice, reminiscent of citrus fruit. The water additives – soap and oil and perfume in balanced combination – had been a good idea. It looked spectacular, too, though with his eyes closed in relaxation, Avon wasn’t exactly observing the visuals.

Vila moved again, agitating the water more violently this time, jolting Avon’s leg.

Avon reluctantly opened his eyes, staring at him. “What are you doing?” He had wanted to sound annoyed, but it came out mellow – his voice as boneless as his body.

“Sorry. It’s all right for you to relax, but these things are damned uncomfortable!”

They hadn’t thought twice about sharing the bath. It was easily big enough, they weren’t shy about nakedness with each other, and they were _both_ raised to think of bathing water as a priceless luxury. Together, they only needed to fill the tub once, together, they displaced more liquid, needing less to fill the tub to an adequate height, and, together, they could both benefit from the additive, which had cost a small fortune all on its own and was only enough for one use. Besides, they would be _together_.

The only issue were the controls of the bath, situated at one end of the tub – specifically the protruding water jets. Avon had been the first to climb into the tub, and now, while Avon could nestle against the smooth sides, the controls were in Vila’s back. He had padded them with a towel, but apparently without much success in making them more comfortable.

Avon sighed and sat up, momentarily shivering when the colder air raised gooseflesh on his skin. “Fine. Sit behind me, then.”

“A cuddle? In the water?”

“You were complaining.”

It took some manoeuvring in the tub made slippery from the oil and soap – including an exclamation of “Don’t _drown_ me, fool!” – but eventually Avon could relax back against Vila’s chest and the water quieted around them.

Vila was warm and even more comfortable than the surface of the luxury tub. Avon let his head fall backwards, resting his neck against Vila’s shoulder, and breathed a soft sigh towards the ceiling. The heat of the water was sinking back into him, calming the frantic static of his thoughts. For once, he was happy to just… be.

Vila’s right arm was wrapped loosely around Avon, preventing him from slipping further into the water, but his left hand was stirring up small eddies in the thin layer of soapy foam that decorate the surface. “It’s so pretty,” he murmured very softly, close to Avon’s ear.

“Hm.”

Vila lifted his hand, the deeply blue-tinted water dripping from his fingers, the golden glitter added to the oil sparkling as he twisted them in the light. “My fingers are getting wrinkly.”

“It’s normal.”

Vila breathed in deeply, his moving chest shifting Avon and the water both.

Avon drew up his knee for balance, absently rubbing a spot that had been aching for a few days – it wasn’t, now – and lay his arm over Vila’s, intertwining their fingers. He felt, though he wouldn’t say it, extraordinarily safe – as though he could fall asleep right here and not be afraid to slip and drown, as though not even the Federation could touch them just so long as they remained in the warm water together.

Vila’s free hand was gently running over his chest, barely lingering on the knotted texture of his scar. The water lay shallowly over him there, lapping up and down with each of their breaths. “Your skin has gone all soft.”

“That’ll be the oil. I imagine yours has, too.” Avon moved his hand from his knee to Vila’s thigh, just to see – Vila’s leg muscles were relaxed, his skin feeling like velvet under the warm water when Avon brushed over it with his thumb.

“Worth every gem we paid for it,” Vila mused, shifting his leg into the caress.

“Hmh.”

“You falling asleep on me?”

Avon pulled his hand back, resting it loosely on his stomach. He could almost imagine that the water could buoy his hand, his arm, his entire body up – but there was too little salt in it for that, the planet’s bathing water supply clean and fresh enough to drink. Still, he felt like he was floating. Belatedly, he remembered to answer Vila’s question. “I should hate to wake up in cold water,” he murmured, his tongue as heavy as the rest of him felt light. The tub had a gentle heating circuit, keeping the water warm for longer, but sooner rather than later it would no longer be sufficient – it couldn’t be, not without being so hot that it burned the skin of the bathers.

“The bed looks inviting,” Vila whispered, his lips brushing against Avon’s ear in what wasn’t – quite – a kiss. “Imagine how soft the sheets are.”

Avon blinked, watching the water swirl as Vila flexed his foot. “I’m imagining it. Do you want to move?”

Vila didn’t answer, just tightened his grip on Avon’s hand for a moment before settling back down, leaving Avon to float in his embrace.


End file.
